


stars in our eyes

by SomewhereNotHere



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Theatre, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Song Lyrics, everyone's either a stagehand or a performer or a band member and this au is Good, performer!Oikawa, stagehand!Suga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 17:30:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13081755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomewhereNotHere/pseuds/SomewhereNotHere
Summary: Sugawara Koushi does not, and has not, ever had a giant crush on Oikawa Tooru. Not even a crush. Not even atinycrush.





	stars in our eyes

“Quiet in the wings people, we’re starting in fifteen minutes!”

Koushi is where he needs to be before anyone else, long before the theatre director even announces how long they have until the show starts, right in front of the stage lighting and sound control system. He’s good at his job like that, puts the other stagehands to shame, especially during the performance warm-up sessions when he sings along while he thinks no one is listening; he’s just as good as the ones who perform, if not better, when he puts his heart and soul into it.

The thing is, whenever he sings along with them, it’s very quiet and hides the true power and potential of his voice. If it causes his co-workers to shiver -- some to cry, even -- already, then surely if he sang for _real_ he’d have the whole theatre team, both actors and not, bawling their eyes out.

_“You should talk to the director sometime,”_ Daichi says repeatedly, usually forgetting that he’s there to work just like Koushi, so the latter always ends up helping him out with his own tasks too, _“I really think you’d have a shot.”_

_“I really doubt that,”_ Koushi replies, also repeatedly, usually tying the curtain tighter so it doesn’t fall back towards the stage mid-performance, or whatever else it is that Daichi isn’t paying too much attention to, _“Oikawa is one of the best we have here, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”_

Koushi knows that no matter how good his own voice is, he can’t compare to Oikawa who never allows stage fright to swallow him up and eat him whole; it’s the one thing that stops him from taking that leap of faith, time and time again. Koushi does not want to be seen as someone trying to overthrow Oikawa’s reign -- being one of the best performers the Sendai City Theatre Hall has ever had -- either, not when it’s thanks to him that the place was able to receive a pricey refurbishment instead of being bulldozed down for god-knows-what to replace it.

Koushi also likes watching Oikawa from the wings, likes watching him from the monitor whenever he’s in charge of the lighting, since he’s breathtaking to look at. When he’s performing, that is.

Sugawara Koushi does not, and has not, ever had a giant crush on Oikawa Tooru. Not even a crush. Not even a _tiny_ crush.

…

Okay,  _maybe_ he has a super, giant, _enormous_ crush on Oikawa, dancing on the lines of being _in love_ with him, but who could really blame Koushi for that? He was an inspiration on and off the stage, save for whenever he argued with his junior, Kageyama Tobio, who’s acting was… as stiff as a board, really.  He would be better as a model. Koushi couldn’t really understand why Oikawa acted so defensive whenever he was in the same room as Kageyama, but it was _cute_ \-- in a childish way, granted -- and Koushi couldn’t stop thinking that Oikawa was cute, handsome, breathtaking, inspiring, all the things he wanted to be himself, and all the things that made him want to be _with_ him, and--

“Looks like someone’s staring again,” Tsukishima comments as he sits beside Koushi, snapping him out of… wherever his mind was at, causing him to flush red for all but five seconds before he coughs and the extra colour on his cheeks drains away, “Suga-san, you’re becoming far more obvious these days.”

Tsukishima was never one to sugar-coat his words, and Koushi was thankful for that most days. Right now? Not so much. He groans, and is glad his noise is drowned out by the director whisper-shouting “Five minutes!”, only to disappear down the steps connecting the stage to the band area out front, where he will watch and sign prompts if he needs to. He never does when Oikawa is performing, as he was somehow able to bring out the other actors’ strengths during each live play. Truly, he was amazing, and that wasn’t even bias on Koushi’s part.

“Sorry,” Koushi does not deny it, knows it is futile with Tsukishima, and checks the lighting deck in front of him. Everything is set-up as it should be. Good.

“Don’t worry about me, Tsukishima. Let’s make our stars shine tonight, okay?”

Tsukishima hums in response, hands on the dimmer switches ready, and Koushi smiles. Unlike Daichi, Tsukishima doesn’t push Koushi, and he’s thankful for that. It may be because Koushi is still his senior -- he’d told him to drop the “senpai” as soon as he said it aloud -- but it’s probably down to Tsukishima’s personality anyway. It’s just who he is. Between him, Daichi, and the rest of his friends, Koushi counted himself rather lucky. He could still get on with his work, and his crush on Oikawa hadn’t hindered his work ethic. Not yet, anyway.

_3, 2, 1…_

The play tonight is a western musical, Grease, and Oikawa is once again playing the lead role, wearing… tight jeans, which are more than likely much tighter than the ones the character wore for the original outfit, but hey, modern times called for artistic license, right? He would have to thank the costume department later. For doing a good job on everyone’s costumes. Not solely Oikawa’s tight jeans.

_By the way, thank you for giving Oikawa tight jeans that accentuate his backside and thighs, especially those_ thighs, _you really did a fantastic job._

Yeah, that wouldn’t go down well, would it? It definitely _would not_ be the definition of “subtle”, either.

“Suga-san.”

“Got it.”

Koushi ends up in charge of all the spotlights for Oikawa, somehow. Whether that is a curse or a blessing in disguise, he’s not sure, but he never fails to get the timings right, even as he’s staring too hard at the screen. All the work that he does is second nature by now, and Tsukishima finds it almost enviable as he watches him push buttons without looking away for even a second, while turning a colour switch, to then sign something to one of the crew behind them who sounds like they’re about to panic. Oikawa isn’t the only one who’s inspiring.

When it comes to the performance of “Sandy” -- of which is in English, like all the songs in the musical tonight, but Koushi understands all of them perfectly thanks to paying attention to the language in high school and throughout university -- Koushi finds his breath caught in his throat.

Oikawa is looking over to the wings where he and Tsukishima are sat; he’s following the stage directions perfectly, but his eyes are supposed to be looking up -- or down -- and not at them directly, right?

“Sandy, can’t you see, I’m in misery? We made a start, now we’re apart, there’s nothing left for me.”

His acting is flawless, and Koushi is completely captivated, much to Tsukishima’s dismay. He can hear him sighing -- a small part of him that is still thinking coherently notices that, at least -- at how he now has to be in complete control of all the lights and sound effects. Koushi will have to apologise to him later, if he remembers, but right now, Oikawa is…

“Oh Sandy, baby, someday, when high school is done. Somehow, someway, our two worlds will be one.”

Koushi’s heart twinges at the look in Oikawa’s eyes, the _promise_ there, and it hurts knowing it’s not for him. He wants to look away, wants Oikawa to look away, but he’s caught under a spell that just won’t let him go.

“Sandy my darlin’, you hurt me real bad, you know it's true. But baby you gotta believe me when I say, I'm helpless without you.”

Koushi’s the one who’s helpless, he knows it, helplessly in love with the star of the show, who would never, ever, in a million years reciprocate his feelings. It's all acting, anyway, and there's no way Oikawa can see Koushi hidden in the darkness of the wings unless he was pointing a torchlight this way. It's all in his imagination. His very cruel imagination.

"You owe me snacks later." Tsukishima mutters under his breath, loud enough for Koushi to hear when Oikawa's solo comes to a close, and he walks to the wings on the opposite side.

_Thank goodness for that,_ Koushi thinks, knowing that if he would have exited the stage on their side, he'd have to bolt and leave before Oikawa even stepped near the curtain.

"I know."

The rest of the performances go to plan, and so does Koushi's handle on the lights and everything else he's working on (Daichi's just hopeless, and he's only here because of Yui, anyway).

Yui is Oikawa's-- Danny's "Sandy", and the two look good together on stage, so good in fact that Daichi still thinks that Yui has a thing for Oikawa, much to her dismay. Koushi knows all about Yui's dislike for Oikawa, how his so-called "harmless flirting" with everyone keeps getting in the way of Daichi ever making the first move, and Koushi is honestly surprised that she hasn't just pulled him aside and kissed him already.

_"I don't get what you see in that asshole, Kou,"_ she says to Koushi, every single opportunity she gets, _"He keeps ruining my chances, and he'll do the same to you."_

_"Oh trust me, Yui,"_ Koushi sighs every time, repeating himself like a broken record, _"Just by him existing he ruins any chances I ever actually had."_

Yui tells him not to be a drama queen, Koushi tells her to pluck up some actual courage and talk to Daichi, but then she bounces the ball back over to his side of the court and tells him to do the same with Oikawa. They call a truce usually, and promise not to talk about either of the two for as long as is possible.

When the cast take their final stage bows, Koushi turns to Tsukishima and excuses himself, quietly making his escape down the steps hidden behind the curtain that lead down to the band. From there, he can slip away to the basement, but on his way he hears a "Hey, Suga-san!" from a grinning Nishinoya. He forgot he was also a part of the band for tonight's performance. Now everyone is looking at him.

_Thank you so much, Nishinoya._ Not like he was trying to slip away unnoticed, but now he can feel the director's eyes boring into him, and, _shit,_ that's Oikawa he can see out of the corner of his eye looking over as well. He bows his head apologetically at the director, rubbing his stomach, and as soon as he receives a nod of approval, he makes his exit.

Koushi doesn't really like lying, not if he can help it, but he could only deal with Oikawa staring at him -- but not actually staring at him, more like _through_ him -- once, and having to go through a horrific ordeal like that again wasn't exactly appealing to him. As much as he liked staring _at_ Oikawa, from afar, having Oikawa accidentally stare at him took a few years off his lifespan.

The basement was made up of a few different rooms, some used for storing stage props, others for housing the band's instruments, and the main open floor space in the middle was where most people came to practice alone. Koushi often found himself singing here, when all he wanted was some time alone. He loved his friends, dearly so, but sometimes he just needed the space to... think.

"Today sucks." he sighs loudly, not caring for just how loud his voice travels, not like it matters; the show is over, and the sound of feet shuffling out of the theatre above him drowns out any noise he's making right now. He could scream and no one would hear him, in theory, though he wouldn't actually like to test that one out.

Koushi thinks about Oikawa's solo and ends up sighing again, running a hand through his hair. He's spoken to him more than once, hell, even held lengthy conversations at lunch breaks with him, which makes it all the more difficult to stop going all gooey eyed when he watches him perform. Though Oikawa was the star of most shows, he was quite different than his stage persona; "difficult to handle" some might say, others would call him "asshole" -- mainly Yui, Tanaka, and a handful of other individuals  -- but after getting to know him the way Koushi had, the first word that came to mind was "stressed". Oikawa, during high school, had been a legendary setter, a rising star in the world of volleyball, before a serious knee injury stopped him from pursuing it as a career.

_"Acting's always been my second love,"_ Oikawa once told him as they sat eating instant noodles together in the cafeteria, his voice taking a serious tone that Koushi had never heard from him before, _"Losing volleyball was... difficult. I'm lucky I had this to fall back onto. I'm not just a handsome face, Suga-chan!"_

_"I know, Oikawa,"_ Koushi had forced a laugh, for his own sake at the handsome comment, as well as Oikawa's sudden switch back from being serious. He could tell it was a touchy subject just from that, _"I'll be supporting you, so don't worry about the lighting. Tsukishima and I will make sure you look your best on stage too."_

"You had the chance to tell him then, and you blew it."

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, Mr. Refreshing. You should probably be careful."

Koushi honestly wasn't expecting to hear Oikawa's voice so close behind him, so he really can't be blamed for the unusually high and choked sound that escapes his mouth as he whips around, almost falling over in the process. He catches himself before that happens, walks back a few steps to leave enough space -- _comfortable_ space -- between them so he can actually _think_ before he speaks or makes any other noises.

"Nice piercing falsetto you have there, it'd give me a run for my money."

" _Haha,_ Oikawa," Koushi holds his hand against his chest and ignores the way his heart pounds rapidly at the smile aimed his way, "Very funny. Sorry, you scared me a little."

"You know I'm just a fool who's willing to sit around and wait for you."

Oikawa bends his legs and lets himself fall carefully back onto the floor. He crosses his legs in a sitting position, patting the space beside him, and Koushi sighs for the third time in under ten minutes. He gives up all too easily though, and is instantly next to Oikawa as soon as he's sat on the floor.

_"You're pretty easy, Suga-san,"_ Tsukishima once said to him, and Koushi's eyes had widened, _"When it comes to the Great King, that is."_

_"Tsukishima,"_ Koushi had sputtered his drink all over himself at the time, _"What's_ that _supposed to mean?"_

_"What indeed..."_

Koushi finally understood that conversation now; he really _was_ easy when it came to Oikawa, and just went along with him like a lost puppy. It was embarrassing, but at least the subject of his affections, Oikawa himself, hadn't noticed... right? Right. He was none the wiser, and Koushi was happy with it staying that way.

"I'm pretty sure there's more comfortable seating upstairs than here on the floor, Oikawa. Shouldn't we be celebrating with the others?"

"I could say the same thing to you, Suga-chan, _you're the one_ who was alone down here-- Hey, don't ignore me!"

"I'm sorry?" Koushi cocks his head to the side, not entirely sure as to what he's done wrong, much less ignored Oikawa about, "I thought we were already talking? And _you're the one_ who wanted to sit on the floor."

"But baby can't you see there's nothing else for me to do? I'm hopelessly devoted to you."

What was Oikawa even going on about, and why was he suddenly using English with Koushi--

...

...

_Wait a second._

That was one of the songs in the musical, right?

"Oikawa, if this is your way of testing me on the musicals you perform in, I already know the Japanese translations, and can actually _understand it in English anyway,_ so I'm not exactly sure why you're--"

"Damn it, Sugawara Koushi, will you just listen?" Oikawa sounds exasperated, and that's another tone Koushi's not heard him use in conversation with him, "My head is saying fool forget him, my heart is saying don't let go. Hold on to the end, that's what I intend to do, I'm hopelessly devoted to you!"

Koushi blinks, Oikawa takes a deep breath. He's shaking, he suddenly notices, and Koushi takes a deep breath himself. He holds it. Keeps holding it, in fact.

"I'm hopelessly devoted to you... _you,_ Koushi, I like you-- No, I _love_ you, didn't you notice the way I was looking at you during my Sandy solo!?"

...

Koushi lets the breath he's been holding out, finally, with a "What the _fuck,_ Tooru." followed by a gasp at how easily Oikawa's first name leaves his lips. At how easy it feels to say on his tongue. Tooru, not Oikawa. Tooru.

"Tooru... _Tooru..._ Huh."

"Okay, you," Oikawa holds his hand up against Koushi's mouth to silence him, his cheeks red, "You don't have to repeat it like that, you know? My heart can only take so much."

So... Koushi wasn't imagining it when he wished Oikawa-- Tooru was looking at him during his performance. He wasn't looking through him, he was looking _right at him._ He _meant_ to look at him, was doing it _on purpose_ all this time, and Koushi had put it down to foolish, wishful thinking.

Koushi huffs and licks the hand covering his mouth. _Tooru_ retracts it back almost instantly with an undignified yelp. Cute. Tooru really is letting Koushi see all new hidden sides of himself today, Koushi could almost cry. Probably would if Tooru wasn't sitting right there.

_Tooru..._

"You called me Koushi."

"Uh-huh," Tooru scratches the back of his neck and grins lopsidedly. He's just as nervous as Koushi is, probably, "Sounds nice, right? I'd like to continue calling you that, Mr. Refreshing. Along with "boyfriend", if you're up for that kind of thing."

Koushi almost chokes on his own saliva, but he doesn't. Thankfully. _Boyfriend._ It's not like he's been pining after him all this time, dreaming of a moment like this, though slightly more romantic than sitting on the cold floor of the theatre's basement. Then again, it's just the two of them down here, and being alone ticks off one aspect of Koushi's fantasy version of any kind of confession he ever had (though Koushi was usually the one to confess in said fantasy, he never expected Tooru -- does that still sound weird to him? It still sounds weird to him -- to be the person to confess to him first, if at all).

"I got chills. They're multiplying."

"Koushi, that's not really answering my question, and I'm sorry I used song lyrics to confess, but it's really difficult when you're _Sugawara Koushi,_ and the _literal definition of "perfect",_ okay?"

"And I'm losing control, 'cause the power you're supplying... It's electrifying!"

Tooru sighs and shakes his head. Koushi grins. He really is afraid he'll cry at any second, but maybe he wouldn't mind if it was Tooru who saw him cry. Maybe he'd embrace him to help calm him down. Crying sure is sounding _very_ tempting to Koushi right about now.

"Koushi--"

"You're the one that I want. Ooh-ooh-ooh, _honey._ The one that I want."

"Is that... is that a yes?"

Koushi laughs, _really laughs,_ and suddenly he doesn't care about crying, doesn't feel as nervous as he did before, but he feels _free,_ and _fuck it--_ He grabs Tooru's face between his hands and moves forward, while pulling Tooru towards him, and kisses him like he means it. If that doesn't answer Tooru's question, he's not sure what will.

"Are you sure?" Tooru asks once Koushi lets go to actually _breathe,_ and they're both red in the face.

Koushi just hums to the tune of the song, linking his arm around Tooru's.

"Yes I'm sure deep down inside." he answers in song, and it's soft and sweet, and the most beautiful sound Tooru's ever heard in his entire life, "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, I love oisuga and this came to me in a flash of inspiration and I started and finished it in a day, so take that writer's block, I finally beat you.
> 
> 1\. Sendai City Theatre Hall isn't an actual thing that exists, not that I'm aware of, because all I did was take "Sendai City Gym" and changed it to "Theatre Hall" for the sake of this fic's AU. 
> 
> 2\. Also I did theatre when I was very, _very_ little, and never did it again after that, so apologies if anything in here is factually incorrect. All I really wanted was a theatre setting, mutual pining that these two were unaware was _actually mutual all along_ until the end, and Oikawa singing while staring at Suga and _meaning every damn word_ , amen. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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